Guilty Plea in Crash that Killed New City Couple

Kathy Welsh

NEW CITY – A Nanuet man, who admitted to using Xanax and Klonopin hours before getting behind the wheel of his vehicle, pled guilty to vehicular homicide on Oct. 6, 2017, in connection with a Jun. 4, 2017, fatal accident that took the lives of a New City couple.

Matthew Sindone

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe announced that Matthew Sindone pled guilty to One count of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, a class B Felony relating to the deaths of Neil Block and his wife Aline Block of New City.

“This case should be disturbing to any driver in Rockland County,” said District Attorney Zugibe. “The defendant’s decision to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while impaired by drugs resulted in the deaths of two innocent people. Their family will never be whole again. Reckless behavior such as that exhibited by this defendant can neither be tolerated nor go unpunished.”

According to the district attorney’s office, on Jun. 4 2017, after 5 p.m., Sindone, while recklessly operating a Lincoln MKT, collided with a Toyota Camry after running through a red light at the intersection of Route 304 and Goebel Road in New City.

First responders pronounced Neil Block dead at the scene of the collision.

Aline Block was declared dead after being extricated from the mangled Toyota.

The defendant suffered cuts to his head and was taken to Nyack Hospital, where Town of Clarkstown police officers recovered Xanax from his pocket.

An analysis of the defendant’s blood revealed 1500 ng/mL of Xanax, an incredibly high amount indicative of the level of the defendant’s impairment at the time, said Zugibe.